Archive for the ‘tattoo watch’ Category

Farmers Classic semifinalist Alex Bogomolov, Jr. showed TSF some love before his match-up against Ernests Gulbis yesterday. Alex was on the Grandstand court playing points with a decent-hittin’ tween. BTW: Gulbis won that match 6-2, 7-6 (4).

We already logged his right shoulder tat, and this is our first the Chinese characters on his left shoulder.

Look at those calves! French qualifier Augustin Gensse didn’t make it past the first round of this week’s French Open. He fell to 14th-seed Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 2-6. (Browse: See how the qualifiers made their way into the main draw)

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Reiko took us up on the request for a closer look at Simone Vagnozzi‘s inner arm tattoo. Here’s a pic shot later in that week of the 2011 Barcelona Open, won last month by Rafael Nadal. (Archives: TSF Tattoo Watch)

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Potito Starace got tangled in Andy Murray‘s medusa at this week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. Potito went down 2-6, 3-6 to the fourth seed, who next faces Florian Mayer. The other six quarterfinalists are Nadal/Cilic, Gasquet (who beat Federer in three with two tiebreaks going his way)/Berdych, and whomever wins these third-rounders: Soderling vs. Almagro and Djokovic vs. Wawrinka. (Draw: Rome Men’s Singles)

Tattoo watch: We hadn’t seen that one on his upper right arm before. Archives: Potito’s shoulder.

Hockey (player) for homos: As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomoamps up his serious push for a marriage equality bill in Albany, the Human Rights Campaign scored a big win in the fight for equal rights: a major sports league male. Sean Avery of the New York Rangers is known as fashion-conscious (check out the glasses) and the 31-year-old NHL veteran isn’t shying away from being the first New York professional athlete to campaign from the cause. And this shouldn’t surprise anyone: he’s Canadian. The former Chelsea resident now lives in SoHo.

Gilty of it: One of our fave online shopping outlets, Gilt, is getting rather giant, actually. The member-based site was valued at $1 billion recently, according to a New York Times article. A new investor in the fashion-savvy site? Goldman Sachs. Guess the big boys are finally getting serious about this online shopping thing, eh? More: Venus’ EleVen on Gilt

Tattoo watch hide your eyes: We think it better to close your eyes on this one. The Utah Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko (he’s Russian, but not related to Maria as far as we know) reveals his latest body art. And… are there any words? Nope. None at all. Just… nothing. TSF Vault: The (classier) tattoos of the tennis tours

Schockingly perfect: There really is only one word for Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock: HOT. Yep, the soon-to-be-30 Republican from the Midwest is giving you a corn-fed washboard stomach on the current cover of Men’s Health. His reasoning to go almost-shirtless on the cover of a national mag? To promote healthy living. Hey, we appreciate such things, Aaron! But we’re still waiting for Mrs. O’s abs on the cover of Shape — and that ain’t happening until January 2017 at the earliest.

Short(er) balls: While we may be a little late to the game (the event was tonight), ESPN the Mag teamed up with popular San Francisco-based Pop Up Magazine tonight on NYU’s campus in downtown Manhattan. That’s right — a live magazine. Regular This American Life-contributor Starlee Kine was going to be there, as were ESPN writers like Katie Baker and Alyssa Roenigk. The event featured artists and columnists as well, and we can’t wait to see/hear/smell/listen/touch what pieces of brilliance comes out from the evening after tonight. | In a strange story getting stranger, Nancy Kerrigan was due to testify at her brother’s trial today in the death of her father. | And just in case you forgot about our friends at Tennishead.net, we’re loving their British-inspired tennis coverage.

Tattoo Watch: Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in her first-round match against Ekaterina Makarova at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. She lost 0-6, 7-5, 4-6. Makarova faces seventh seed Maria Sharapova in the second round; they’re both in the same quarter as Vika and Pavs. (Draws:Internazionali BNL d’Italia)

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One less for Tattoo Watch to keep tabs on now that pseudo-tramp-stamped Austrian Stefan Koubek has announced his retirement.

The 34-year-old ATPer, ranked 261st, plans to finish his pro career off with an exhibition match on July 30. “I wanted to play Roland Garros and Wimbledon one more time but I won’t make it,” he told the press. “Once you’ve decided to quit, you lose your motivation.”

More: Here are pics we took of Koubek back in March. Yes, you saw that correctly: it’s a chinese character superimposed over a tribal pattern. He has his cake and eats it, too!

Romania’s Adrian Ungur has made it through to the second round of this week’s Serbia Open by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round (and qualifying for a spot in the main draw). Unfortunately, that’s probably where it’ll end; he faces Novak Djokovic in the hometown hero’s opening match tonight.

Tattoo watch: Ungur told TSF (by way of the Serbia Open media folks) that the hip tat you see peeking out of his shorts means “respect” and “honor” in Chinese. Open season: And he also revealed that he has four more: a star on his hand; the initials of his wife; a bracelet on his upper right arm; and an old Georgian saying on his arm. Let the photo hunting begin!

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Consolation prize: As sad as it is that Pico peaced out early at this week’s Barcelona Open, TSF found the silver lining: an inner-arm tat on Italian Simone Vagnozzi, who upset 16th seed Monaco 6-3, 6-2 in the second round. Vagnozzi fell in the subsequent round to Juan Carlos Ferrero. (Archives:TSF Tattoo Watch)

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Raging Bull: American Alex Bogomolov, Jr. upset Andy Murray with a 6-1, 7-5 win over the Scot in a second-round match at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. It didn’t help rusty Andy’s cause that he came in with a three-loss streak (starting with that Aussie Open final loss to Nole). Bogomolov, on the other hand, had a few matches under his belt by qualifying for the main draw and beating Victor Hanescu in the first round.

Brackets: Bogomolov will face the winner of Isner/Andreev. They are all in the same quarter as Djokovic. (SEO Draws)

Czech player Karolina Pliskova has some massive tattoos on her upper arm and thigh (in that same tribal pattern). FYI, she won the 2010 Australian Open singles title. Karolina’s twin sister, Kristyna, took home the Wimbledon junior singles title that same year.

Argentine Horacio Zeballos and doubles partner Eduardo Schwank couldn’t overcome the team of Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement at the Davis Cup semifinals in Lyon. Their decisive rubber, which Llodra and Clement won 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, sends France to their first Fed Cup final since 2002. We didn’t include it in our Fila Davis Cup post, but Zeballos wore a country-appropriate white polo with blue and yellow trim. (More: Read up on the tie details here.)

Meanwhile, we caught a little bit of Zeballos’ shirtless practice time on the Sunday before the 2010 US Open. He lost in the first round to Igor Andreev.

Tattoo watch: Looks like he has the Eye of Horus on his right shoulder.

We checked in with the camp of Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer, and it turns out that his forearm tat is the time he was born.

He and his Davis Cup teammates are playing out the tie against Israel for a spot in next year’s World Group. They’re currently down 1-2; Haider is currently set to play the fifth rubber against Harel Levy. More: Tie info here.

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Austria’s Andreas Haider-Maurer lost the first rubber against Israel’s Dudi Sela at this weekend’s Davis Cup World Group Play-offs (in Tel Aviv). The scoreline: 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. Last month, Haider qualified for the 2010 US Open Main Draw on his first try; he lost to Robin Soderling in the first round. Not sure what that tattoo is… possibly a bibleverse?

Even:Jurgen Melzer beat Harel Levy to put the tie at 1-1. See all the stats here.

Update: That tattoo isn’t a bible verse… Andreas’ camp tells us that this (6:55) is the exact time of his birth.

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The inside of Bethanie Mattek-Sands‘ right arm has a colorful floral tattoo. Here she is during yesterday’s second-round match at the Pilot Pen Tennis at Yale against Nadia Petrova (Sands lost 6-3, 6-2.) Nads faces Sam Stosur in what has turned out to be a solid quarterfinal line-up at this year’s tourney: Wozniacki / Pennetta, Dementieva / Bartoli, Kirilenko / Safina, and Nads/Stosur. (Draw:Women’s event)

Tattoo Watch: Swede Robert Lindstedt is still in the doubles draw with Romanian partner Horia Tecau at this week’s Farmer’s Classic in Los Angeles. They were practicing a day before their match against the team of Butorac and Rojer. FYI, Rojer used to play for UCLA’s tennis team. (Draw:Doubles)

Just in time for Wimbledon, TSF discovered a big-time Roger Federer fan who wears her pride on her sleeve… er, to be exact, the underside of her wrist. Always.

Michele Drohan is avid tennis player who lives in Manhattan and works for a video and TV product company called Sling Media. She also happens to have the RF logo tattooed onto her wrist, something few fans can claim. We bring you the story of Michele, her tattoo, and the way it all came about.

TSF: When did you get the tattoo?Michele Doran: I got the tattoo the same day Fed (finally!) won the French Open, in 2009.

TSF: Good timing. Tell me about the thought process of why you got it.MD: The fact that Fed had completed the career grand slam and tied Sampras‘s record was a special moment for me as a long-time, die-hard fan. My best friend, Caroline, jokingly bet me that if he won I should get a tattoo. And it just made sense at the time. It might sound strange to the non-fan, but I did it, in part, because I felt I wanted to honor his accomplishments, like I owed him. He’s brought me so much joy, and a fair share of anxiety, watching him play and I truly believe there will never be another like him.

TSF: Fair enough. But what about those people in your life who have brought you joy (and anxiety) personally? Weren’t there a few that were completely against it?MD: Nobody influential was against it, but I have friends who bristle at it, mostly because they’re jealous, frustrated Roddick fans. (Insert sly laughter here.) Again, Caroline my best friend — and fellow fanatic — was totally for it and with me when I got it. She got a tattoo, too, but nothing tennis related. It was definitely a celebratory day. Maybe we were a little drunk. But I don’t regret it at all.

TSF: More power to you (and Caroline)! Do you have other tattoos?MD: I have three other tattoos. A small rose on my back, a snake on my arm (which I tried to get removed unsuccessfully — long story) and another flower on my ankle. So getting the RF tattoo wasn’t a stretch per se. Once you have one tattoo, getting another isn’t a huge deal.

TSF: OK, got it. I haven’t delved into that yet. But I was thinking of a vintage Mary Pierce pony tail down my neck and back. No? For you, why the RF? Do you have a big obsession with Roger? Or just love the design? Or both?MD: As for the RF, it was totally and completely for Federer. Yes, some would say I’m obsessed. I guess I’m just lucky he has such a fabulous logo.

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German Philipp Kohlschreiber fell to second seed Nole Djokovic at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open — but not without a fight. He took the second set and pushed Djokovic to a tiebreak in the third, exposing the Serb’s weakened game; Djokovic lost to veteran Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-3 in the round after. Up next for Ivan in the quarters is Juan Monaco (!), who beat Gigi Lopez in three sets. (Draw:Men’s Singles.)